Short Summary

In the Philippines workers are clearing away debris that was left after a huge fire swept through the centre of Manila on Monday (3 April).

Description

In the Philippines workers are clearing away debris that was left after a huge fire swept through the centre of Manila on Monday (3 April).

SYNOPSIS: The fire started in the Tondo area of Manila, one of the capital's most crowded districts. High winds fanned the blaze and it raged for nine hours before firemen brought it under control. When it ended, the flames had ??? an area covering 25 hectares (60 acres).

Afterwards a count revealed that more than 3,000 homes, many of them slum shanty buildings, had been destroyed. Despite the extent of the fire there were surprisingly few casualties -- three people died and more than 40 were injured. Police investigating the fire think it may have been started by children playing with matches.

Firemen fighting the blaze had to contend with an apparent shortage of water and also residents who fled the area, blocking narrow alleys as they escaped carrying as many possessions as possible. There were 50,000 of them and they spent the night in emergency evacuation centres.

The fire, the second in a slum district in the past month, comes against the background of government promises during an election campaign to improve housing conditions for thousands of slumdwellers.